Resume template · Updated October 2026
Resume template for high school diploma holders
Short answer
Leslie suits a working adult whose highest qualification is a high school diploma. It prints work experience straight after the summary, then skills, so paid jobs lead and the diploma closes the page as one short entry. The fictional sample is a bank teller who finished school in 2023, with a retail job before the bank and a business pathway completed in high school.
Download the high school diploma sample
Brianna is a fictional bank teller. Replace every detail with your own before you send it.
The files are made in your browser by Resumity's own exporters, from this sample. The builder opens it as your own resume: click any line to replace it. Free plan, no watermark.
Why Leslie suits a high school diploma resume
Leslie prints experience directly under the summary and keeps education below skills, which is the right weight for a diploma once you have held a job: the branch manager meets your teller and retail work first. Its only colour is the blue centred header and short blue heading underlines, so the page looks finished without decoration.
Second choice: Catalyst. Catalyst opens on work experience with no summary at all; pick it once your job titles explain themselves and you would rather spend that space on bullets.
What goes in each section, in Leslie's order
Leslie prints its sections in a fixed order, the same in the PDF and the Word file. Here is that order for this sample, and what to put in each section.
- Professional Summary. Say what you do now, for how long, and the job you want next. A diploma holder rarely needs to mention school here; the reader is looking for proof that you can handle the work, and your jobs supply it.
- Work Experience. This is the body of the page. Give each job two to four results your manager could confirm: a drawer that balances, referrals that became accounts, a store you opened alone. Jobs from your school years can drop off once two solid ones are listed.
- Skills. Leslie prints skills as labelled rows after your jobs. Keep each row to things a supervisor would test in your first week: counting cash, the software you use daily, how you deal with an upset customer.
- Education. One entry: diploma, school, city and year. A detail line is worth adding only for something an employer values, such as a career pathway, a dual enrollment course or a credential earned in school; class rank and clubs come off after the first year or two of work.
The sample resume as text
The same content as the files above, so you can copy a line or compare it with your own.
Brianna Coleman
Bank Teller, Member Services Candidate
Columbus, GA | brianna.coleman@example.com | (706) 555-0114
Bank teller with two years of cash handling and account servicing at a community bank, after a year in retail. Balances the cash drawer every shift with no out-of-balance days in the past year and refers customers to the right products. Looking for a member services or personal banker trainee role.
Experience
Bank Teller, Copper Creek Community Bank, Columbus, GA (08/2024 to Present)
- Process deposits, withdrawals, check cashing and loan payments for about 90 customers on a typical Friday.
- Balance the cash drawer at the end of every shift and help the head teller with the vault count twice a week.
- Refer customers to personal bankers for savings and auto loan products; 31 referrals became new accounts in 2025.
- Spot and escalate suspicious check deposits by following the branch fraud procedure.
Sales Associate, Riverwalk Home Goods, Columbus, GA (06/2023 to 07/2024)
- Ran the register and handled returns and exchanges, including cash and card refunds.
- Opened the store two mornings a week and counted the starting till.
- Rebuilt the seasonal display each month from the head office layout plan.
Education
High School Diploma, Ashby Creek High School (05/2023). Business and Finance career pathway (three courses). Dual enrollment: Introduction to Business, 3 college credits
Skills
Cash handling, Drawer balancing, Account servicing, Counterfeit and fraud checks, Teller platform software, Microsoft Excel, Point-of-sale systems, Calm with upset customers, Accuracy under time pressure
How to make the sample yours
Decide whether to show the graduation year
The sample keeps 2023 because the timeline is short and recent. If you finished school decades ago, the diploma can appear without a year; the entry still answers a "diploma or equivalent" requirement.
Replace banking with your own field
A warehouse worker would fill these spots with pick accuracy and equipment training; a receptionist with call volume and scheduling software. Keep the shape: the current job gets the most detail, the earlier one less.
Add any college credits as their own line
Courses taken after high school, or dual enrollment during it, go in education with the credits earned. Never round partial credits up into a degree.
Rename the target role for each application
The summary ends with "member services or personal banker trainee". Swap that phrase for the title in each posting so the reader sees where you fit.
Add workplace training as you finish it
A notary commission, a forklift card or an employer course counts. List it under Certifications with the year, and name the most relevant one in the summary, because Leslie prints that section near the end.
Keywords to keep where they are true
Terms this kind of resume is usually searched for. Use the posting's exact wording, and only for work you have done.
- high school diploma
- cash handling
- drawer balancing
- customer service
- account servicing
- cross-selling
- product referrals
- fraud prevention
- bank operations
- point of sale
- accuracy
- Microsoft Excel
Mistakes to avoid
- Keeping your high school GPA, clubs and sports seasons years after you finished. Once you have a work history, that space belongs to your jobs.
- Writing "some college" with no school, dates or credits. Give the details or leave the line off.
- Apologising in the summary for not having a degree. A posting that asks for a diploma is already satisfied; use the space to say what you can do.
- A coursework line full of classes unrelated to the job, such as an elective that has nothing to do with banking.
How the sample PDF reads in text extractors
We exported this sample with Resumity's PDF exporter in Chrome on 2026-10-29 and read the file back with three open-source text extractors. This shows whether software that turns a PDF into text can recover it; it is not a test of any commercial applicant tracking system. How we test templates.
| Extractor | Name, email, phone | Headings | Bullets intact |
|---|---|---|---|
| pdf.js 4.10.38 | All found | 4 of 4 | 7 of 7 |
| pdftotext (Xpdf) 4.00 | All found | 4 of 4 | 7 of 7 |
| pypdf 6.13.0 | All found | 4 of 4 | 7 of 7 |
Frequently asked questions
How do I list a high school diploma on a resume?
Write "High School Diploma", then the school, the city and state and the year you finished. If you finished a long time ago, the year is optional.
Should I put high school on my resume if it is my highest education?
Yes. Many postings ask for a diploma or equivalent, and the education entry is where a screener confirms it. One entry near the end of the page is enough.
What if I started college but did not finish?
Add the college below the diploma with the program and credits completed, for example "Coursework toward A.A. in Business, 18 credits". Leave out any graduation date.
Should I keep high school honors on a work resume?
For a year or two after school, a strong GPA or honor society can stay. After that, results from your jobs are better evidence, so let the honors go.
Where does education go if all I have is a diploma?
After your jobs and skills. Leslie prints education below skills, which is the right order when your work is the stronger part of the page.
Will applicant tracking systems read this Leslie PDF?
The sample PDF read back with its contact details, all 4 section headings and all 7 bullets intact in three open-source text extractors (pdf.js, pdftotext and pypdf). Commercial systems such as Workday, Greenhouse or Taleo were not tested, and each employer configures its own.
Guides and templates for this resume
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